First Baptist Church of Ann Arbor

Mission: To support God’s work in our Ann Arbor community and throughout the world.

We are an American Baptist Church in Ann Arbor that provides a welcoming, inspiring place for seekers, believers, doers, and dreamers of all ages who want to find meaning and community during a time of changing social, political, and cultural tides.

At First Baptist Church, one of our most significant ministries is our work to care for the homeless and the hungry. Even in a wealthy community like ours, food insecurity affects one in seven people (one in six children). Our ministries to this population include:

• Meals at Hope Clinic – In this valuable outreach activity, volunteers from our church work together to purchase the food for, prepare and serve a hot meal for those in need at the Hope Clinic in Ypsilanti.
• Overnight Rotating Shelter – Organized by the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County with participation from many area churches and synagogues. Each March, we host the overflow from the local homeless shelter in our church building. Each night for a week, volunteers offer a free, home-cooked soup dinner and a safe, warm, friendly place to stay for the night.
• Daytime Warming Center – Organized by M.I.S.S.I.O.N., a local nonprofit that works to help local homeless people address many of their needs. This is one of our newest ministries, organized recently during a brutally cold winter. Two days a week each February, we host a daytime warming shelter, offering a safe, warm, friendly place to relax and connect with others during the day. Volunteers offer a free, home-cooked lunch, along with friendship and hospitality.
• Hikone Food Drive – Every December, we collect and deliver food for the children and families of Hikone, a low income housing community in Ann Arbor. Many of the children and youth at Hikone receive free or reduced-price breakfast and school lunch. As these are not available during the two-week school break, we help by providing nonperishable breakfast and lunch items as well as “milk money” to the food pantry at their community center. Volunteers collect, sort, and deliver our donations to the community center right before winter break begins.
• ​CROP Walk for Hunger – Organized by the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice. Each fall, a team of volunteers from our church joins hundreds of other volunteers in walking to raise money for programs that address hunger both locally and globally.
• Habitat for Humanity – Our congregation, along with 16 other local congregations, works together as “The Good News Group,” on home renovation projects in our area. In 2017, we completed work on two homes in Ypsilanti – our 30th and 31st homes.